A substantial waste of water occurs every day during showers or baths in households across the country. Part of this waste occurs when members of the household waste gallons of clean water by simply running the hot water tap until the hot water travels from the water heater to the tap. For example, in order to take a warm shower, the user first turns on the warm water in the shower. Typically, however, it takes several minutes for the hot water to travel from the water heater to the shower. Therefore, after the user turns on the water, he usually waits for several minutes until the hot water reaches the shower tap. After the hot water has reached the shower tap, the user then begins his shower.
During the minute or two that it takes for the cold water to purge from the hot water line, gallons of clean water flow into the sewer lines. A typical non-low flow shower head emits approximately four to six gallons of water a minute. Therefore, during the time that cold water is running, approximately six to ten gallons of clean water flow into the sewer lines, or half of that amount if it is a low-flow head. Moreover, the actual bathing process typically only takes a few minutes. Many people, however, enjoy standing under a warm shower before or after the bathing process is completed. During that time many gallons of relatively clean water are also flowing into the sewer lines.
In order to save some of the relatively clean water, one method suggested by water companies is to place a bucket under the tap in order to collect the clean cold water and reuse it later. However, this method of water conservation is burdensome and time consuming.
Many people enjoy soaking in a bathtub full of hot water. Also, people often soak in hot tubs after showering, such that the water in the tub is still relatively clean after they are finished soaking. Although this water is also relatively clean, it is drained into the sewer lines. Because a bath uses anywhere from thirty to fifty gallons of water, it is desirable to find a method of recycling this water.
As another method of conserving water, water companies are also suggesting the elimination or reduction of landscape irrigation and lawn watering. Therefore, many homeowners have allowed their landscaping to suffer in an attempt to avoid using large amounts of water for irrigation.
The problem created by the waste of relatively clean bath and shower water is two-fold. The first problem is the usage and cost of the water. The second problem is the increased sewer handling requirements created by the water in the sewer lines. In many municipalities, sewage treatment requirements have become a substantial problem. As populations have increased, standards for the treatment of sewage has become more stringent, and the expensive piping system that conveys the sewage to the treatment plants is often on the brink of capacity, and in need of replacement due to age. The large amounts of relatively clean water that dilute the sewage create a need for larger sewer pipelines, and make it more difficult to treat the sewage. If the relatively clean water was removed from the sewage system, smaller sewer lines would suffice, and the sewage would be easier to handle.
Additionally, soaps or shampoos may be developed that are actually beneficial to plants and landscaping. Many soaps on the market today are already environmentally correct and are becoming more so every day. In this event, it would seem imperative to have a system that would enable one to conserve all water from showers and baths, as well as washing machines, for subsequent irrigation purposes.
Therefore, a need exists for a system that can greatly reduce water usage by collecting the relatively clean water that typically enters the sewer lines from the bathtub/shower drains, and using this water for irrigation and watering purposes.